Not alone anymore
by DutchLady
Summary: The Doctor is walking around London, feeling misserable, until he meets a very special person. One-shot.


The Doctor walked through the streets of London. He hadn't been here for a while; not since leaving Donna with her family. And the thing with the Cybermen in 1851 didn't count, he meant modern day London.

The event at Easter was just a little blip on the radar; he had left immediately after everything had been resolved. Just like he liked it, no mess, and no fuss.

Onwards and upwards, that was his style from now on.

He strode along with his hands stuffed firmly in his pockets. He was allowing himself to be depressed and lonely. Normally, he would have chided himself for feeling like that. Even after he had lost Rose, hadn't he felt like this. Not this lonely.

After Martha had walked away from him, he had felt the loneliness to, but again not like this.

Wiping Donna's memories hadn't been easy, and he hated himself for doing it. But he couldn't have let her die, not his brilliant Donna.

But the truth was, that what happened to Donna was something that he would have been able to get past at some point; dreadful as it was.

No, all those singular events wouldn't have hurt him. It was all of them stacked up on top of each other. All of them had happened in only a short time period and his old hearts hadn't been able to take it anymore.

So one night, one dark and lonely night, he had made a decision; no more companions; ever.

That way, he couldn't feel the pain of losing them anymore.

He would be lonely, but he could live with that. He just couldn't live with the pain of loss anymore.

He continued walking along the Millennium Bridge and found himself near the Tate Gallery. He sat down on a bench and enjoyed the view. On the opposite bank was St. Paul's Cathedral and the Thames. It really was a great view.

Yes, he had made up his mind, no more companions. For a second it had been tempting to take Christina with him. But in the end she would have left too. He could have convinced himself that he didn't want to travel with her, because she was a thief and bit of a liar. But the truth was that just didn't want to get hurt anymore.

A tall man suddenly plonked himself down next to him. The man looked young, mid-twenty's, and was casually clothed, blue jeans, with a vest, what was under it, the Doctor couldn't make out. On the man's feet were sturdy boots and on his head was a hat at a slightly odd angle. A hat and blue jeans… somehow the young man made it work. His hair was dark, almost black.

"Great view, isn't it?" the man said.

The Doctor only grunted. He wasn't in the mood.

"Yeah," the man went on. "I love this view, I've seen a lot of views, but this one is one of my favourites."

He glanced at the Doctor, before continuing.

"Yep, I said to my friend the other day, her name is Abby by the way, I said to her, when we were standing next to this very same bench, if this wasn't one of the best views she had ever seen. And she said that it was beautiful."

"What do you want from me?" the Doctor asked the young man.

"Oh nothing, just making conversation. That's all," the man gave him a bright smile. "But you know what?"

"What…?" the Doctor asked tiredly.

"Nothing beats a good view if you don't have a good friend to share it with."

"You're probably right," the Doctor said, just to humour him.

"Oh, I'm always right," the young man said with an even brighter smile.

The Doctor looked at him in bemusement, but let the comment slide.

The young man clapped his hands. "Well, I had best be off. Places to go and people to meet. What I came over to ask you is, have seen my friend Abby? About this tall, with long red hair just over her shoulders, she was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans."

"No…" the Doctor shook his head. "Sorry, haven't seen her."

"Oh…" the man said, a bit crestfallen. "That's too bad… you would have liked her. I don't know what it is. I always say that she shouldn't wander off. But does she listen, of course not."

The young man looked at the Doctor. And suddenly the Doctor recognized him… well… himself.

The Eleventh Doctor stood and clapped his hands a second time. "I always tell them that it's rule one. Normally Abby listens, but this time…"

He leaned over and put a hand on his predecessors shoulder. "Don't worry so much about the future. You're going to do amazing things, before you're me. And one thing is going to be _really_ important."

Suddenly, a young girl appeared at the Eleventh Doctor's side. "Found them…" she said with a smile.

The Eleventh Doctor turned to her. "Perfect, Abby. Now would you mind and take a look at this."

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to look at the view. "Now, what do you make of that view? Isn't it one of the best?"

Abby looked at the view for a few moments and then turned to her Doctor. "Yeah, it's one of the most beautiful I've ever seen."

The Eleventh Doctor turned back to the Tenth. "Told you," he said with a smug smile.

"But…but…" the Tenth Doctor stammered.

"Who is he, Doctor?" Abby asked her Doctor.

"Remember what I told you about regeneration?" her Doctor said to her. Abby nodded. "Well… he is me. Or I was him. One day, he will regenerate into me!"

Abby looked at the thin man in the pinstriped suit and smiled at him. "Wow, it's very nice to meet you. I never would have thought that I would ever meet you… that is not you… but still you… oh, you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do. Nice to meet you too, Abby," the Tenth Doctor gave her a warm smile, and shook her hand.

"Now Abby, we have to go and take care of the thing," the Eleventh Doctor interjected, before Abby could give him any kind of spoilers.

"Yes… the thing," Abby said. "It went that way." She pointed towards the Millennium Bridge. She gave her Doctor a bright smile and hared off. "Race ya!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Abby!" he yelled after her. He turned to his younger self. "They never learn." And began to chase after his companion.

He stopped and ran back to the Tenth Doctor. "You will feel better, once you meet her. She is to me, what Donna was to you. A very good friend that can somehow… almost read my mind and knows exactly where my buttons are. And I realised that that's not a bad thing."

And he ran off again. "See you in the future!" he yelled over his shoulder. "Abby, slow down!"

And he vanished from sight.

The Tenth Doctor watched as his successor chased is companion. So… one day… he was going to travel with a companion again. Something inside him rebelled against that. It would become another way for him to get hurt.

But… he wasn't entirely sure if that was a bad thing. He wouldn't be lonely anymore.

He sat back down on the bench and continued to enjoy the view.

Two and a half hours later the sun had gone down and there was a bright light that very briefly turned night into day. He smiled.

Once again, the Earth was saved, and he didn't do it alone.

**AN: of course the Eleventh Doctor is complety made up by me. We don't even know his companions name yet; I simply liked the name Abby. It just seems her, you know.  
Please leave a review once you've read it?**


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